In hotels, motels, inns, and the like, guest rooms typically have a means for indication of the occupant's desire that the housekeeping service make-up the room or leave the room undisturbed. Typically, this is accomplished by the use of a card that is placed on the handle of the door. One side of the card shows “do-not-disturb” and the other side shows “make-up-room.” If the occupant wishes to be undisturbed, he or she places the card on the knob outside the door so that the “do-not-disturb” sign is visible. If the occupant wishes to have the housekeeping service make-up the room, the occupant places the card on the knob outside the door so that the “make-up-room” sign is visible.
One of the drawbacks to using the doorknob mounted card is that the cards are awkward and tend to fall off when the door is closed. In addition, a doorknob mounted card is susceptible to pranksters, who have been known to switch or remove the cards. Another drawback to the use of a doorknob mounted card is that it requires the occupant to open the door to place the card on the knob outside the door. This can be an inconvenience to the occupant.
To overcome these drawbacks, indicator lights have been used. Typically, indicator lights are mounted outside the guest room or at a remote housekeeping service station. The indicator lights are typically operated from within the guest room, making operation convenient for the occupant and preventing tampering by pranksters.
Many modern guest rooms include room control systems. Room control systems comprise a central control computer or device that receives data from various remote sensors and operates a number of remote room control devices. Such remote sensors include, for example, motion sensors, temperature sensors, smoke detectors, and door and other closure switches. Such remote room control devices include, for example, thermostats and associated relays for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, electronic locks, lighting control switches and relays, and motors and switches for opening and closing drapes. The central control computer uses the data and control devices to, for example, adjust the room's temperature, determine and annunciate whether the room is occupied or unoccupied, determine and annunciate whether the room's mini-bar has been accessed, sound fire and emergency alarms, turn lights on or off, permit or deny access to the room, open and close drapes, turn audio-visual equipment on or off, and perform other functions related to controlling equipment or annunciating status in rooms. A central control computer or device may be located in each room, and all rooms can be tied to a single master central control computer. Where a central control computer or device is used in each room, each such computer or device can provide data to the master central control computer from which such data is disseminated to display and control terminals at housekeeping, front desk, security, engineering or any number of other locations in order to provide hotel personnel with access to the data and with the ability to remotely control various room functions or settings from such terminals.
Room control systems are valuable tools for the lodging industry. Unfortunately, the equipment and installation costs associated with room control systems are generally too expensive for most new construction and renovation projects.